National sprint title for Chris Clarke

CITY sprinter Chris Clarke got his 2013 season off to a flying start in Sheffield on Sunday as he raced to 200m victory at the European Trials and UK Indoor Championships.

The 23-year-old comfortably won his heat in a time of 21.33s before ramping it up a gear to win the British title with a super quick 20.96s, beating his national rivals from Medway and Oxford.

That was a new record for his club, Marshall Milton Keynes, but even more significantly it means Clarke will go to the European Indoor Championships in Sweden next month as a serious contender to win a second major senior medal.

The former Denbigh School student narrowly missed out on selection for last year’s Olympic Games and is looking to return to the sort of form that saw him win bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Doha in 2010 and a host of major junior titles.

Clarke’s current personal best time over 200m currently stands at 20.65s